A "Guest Post"

Today’s post is courtesy of my nephew, Tim.  He is the son of my brother Bob, who was also a very faithful Catholic. This is his Good Friday reflection.  He has given me permission to use more of his Spirit-filled gems in the future—with cite, of course.

Thanks, Tim.  Not only for your excellent meditation here, but for the example you set for others in the defense of our faith.

What is Truth?

What an insightful question asked of Jesus by Pilate. Do we have a way to define truth today? Jesus told Pilate, "For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). Lately it seems that we are not allowed to speak or share a truth of faith. We are pressured to accept truth because we don't want to be seen as narrow-minded...our pride gets in our way. This was true of Pilate..."Pilate tried to release [Jesus], but the Jews cried out, 'If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar'" (John 19:12).

Truth today becomes that of the majority who has decided a "feel good" truth for themselves rather than on any moral precedent or standard. These aren't wicked people to be shunned or to withhold love, mercy and forgiveness, but their passions are disordered to themselves and their desires. For them, this is the meaning of freedom...the right to do what I want, when I want, and however I want. Morally speaking, this isn't a guaranteed right is it?—At least not a right that doesn't also have consequences. For instance, I suppose you are free to murder someone or steal someone's property, but you also face the potential consequence of going to prison. Even if you don't get caught, there would be this looming feeling wondering if one day you will be caught...that kind of over-the-shoulder lookout isn't freedom.

Those examples may be extreme to some people because they may tell themselves "hey, my choices aren't injuring anyone." This is the comment I would expect from someone who does not recognize the God who created him or her...the God that knows, loves, and cares about every one of us even if we want nothing to do with Him. Choosing not to believe in Him doesn't mean He ceases to exist or isn't hurt by our actions. Man is the only creature with the ability to reason beyond just what he needs...even monkeys can think of a way to use a stick to dig out ants for food. Man's reasoning allows him to think beyond survival...to think of the future...to think existentially. Man's reason allows him to know God...not necessarily what God is thinking and doing, but to know Him as the Father who desires relationship with His creation made in His image.

Yet this idea of not hurting anyone is the façade that is used to pressure people into taking on that Rodney King can't-we-all-get-along compassion they mistake as Christ's message to "love one another". We ARE called to love one another...that is the TRUTH, but there were also standards used to measure truth...standards that Christ Himself told us were true. We were not called to love and at the same time deny truth.

This week I heard debates about what defines marriage, and Facebook was filled with pretty little equal signs. One message I got was that people are free to have a same sex relationship to share a mutual and consenting love, and if I don't agree with that view then I am a bigot or have an archaic religious view not in touch with today's world. The other message I have heard, and sadly from "practicing Christians", is that marriage between same sex partners should be allowed so they can give decision-making and property rights to their partner the same as a married spouse might do. I hear the rhetoric and I understand the concern, but don't we already have living wills that allow us to give those rights to someone of our choosing? If not, why can't government be persuaded to revise these rules of decision making and property? Some have argued that hospitals will not allow a person to visit another in the hospital if they are not family...does this seriously need to be a reason to re-define marriage? Why can't hospitals adapt their rules?

I am a Catholic Christian and my beliefs come from what God has revealed to me about Himself through His son and His teaching...a real, historical figure whose testimony has been recorded. Through my God-given reasoning, I have greatly awakened my faith and developed a deeper relationship with Jesus. I don't want to use the Genesis arguments stated by so many Christians...I'm sure we've heard them. My reflection is on Christ's words of truth to all of us. Jesus stated, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6). Jesus DID NOT come with a message of "God created the world and saw it was good, so since all is good, everything your heart desires is therefore good for you". He spoke of many things that were contemptuous before God, and same-sex relations was one of those things. He spoke of this sin in relation to the behavior that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matthew 10:15 & 11:24, Luke 10:12, and 2Peter 2:6). Now if Jesus Christ told me these are intolerable sins, and Jesus is the Lord of my life, why on earth should I feel pressure to accept this new paradigm of marriage from others in society?

Did Jesus tell me to love people? Certainly He did. However, He did not tell me to condone what He Himself considered sin--Hate the sin and love the sinner. Jesus even tells the faithful not to so much as condone sin (i.e., vote for or protest for) because we too then are guilty of that sin. There is much talk of the hypocrisy of so-called Christians who say they believe one thing, yet act contrary to those beliefs. As a result, they are not attracted to Christianity...an evangelization moment is lost. By asking me to go against my faith for the sake of keeping up with what the world has deemed no big deal, these protestors are asking me to become the type of Christian people aren't attracted to in the first place. I'm sickened by politicians debating FOR issues of abortion and same sex marriage and purposely throw out the fact that they are Catholic, like it's some sort of Church endorsement. Jesus spoke very forcefully about those whose faith becomes weakened by sin and acts in support of sin saying, "Whoever is not with me is against me" (Luke 11:23). This should be a strong warning for all of us, myself included, that we need to seek TRUTH so we can decide to be on the side of truth and not against it.

As a sinner, I pray daily for God's strength, intervention, and forgiveness, so I am by no means saying the walk is an easy one, but the discipline in the journey is true freedom. Jesus said, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur....Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him" (Luke 17: 1-3). Do not be angry or frustrated at those of us who speak out in the truth of our faith against same sex marriage or think us bigoted...if you don't like what we have been told to share about the message, take it up with the boss, our LORD...I'm sure He's been waiting to hear from you. :)

Who cares? (I do!)

I thought the following (true) story was pretty fitting for this Holy Week of meditations.  I’ll let it speak for itself.

A retired priest sat enjoying the afternoon sun. He looked up to see the newly ordained bishop of the diocese walking towards him. "Father, may I sit with you a while?" the bishop asked.

The old priest, delighted, struggled to get up to welcome his distinguished visitor.

"Father, I'd like to tell you a story. Some years ago, a group of college students who had spent the afternoon drinking were walking past a little church. Confessions were being heard inside. One of them came up with the idea to make a list of the worst sins they could think of and confess them. It would be a riot, they thought, to see how the old priest reacts.

"But one of the guys said, 'Seeing it's your idea, put up or shut up. I bet you $20 you haven't the guts to do it'.

"Well, the first guy took up the challenge. A list of wild sins was drawn up and he went inside the confessional. He came out a few minutes later brandishing a piece of paper. 'Pay me!' he said. 'Here's proof that I've been to confession.'

His friends asked what the paper was. 'It's my penance.' 'Didn't the priest say anything?' "'Nothing, he just handed me the paper.' "'Well, have you done the penance?' "'Don't be silly. I'm not going to do any penance.' "'Oh, no, we don't pay until you do the penance.'

"So he went into the church and read the note: kneel before the crucifix at the altar and repeat 10 times: 'All this you did for me and I don't give a damn.' No problem, the guy thought, and knelt before the altar. But he couldn't do it. He saw the nailed hands and the infinite sadness in the Crucified's eyes.

"A half hour later, his friends wondered what had happened to him and went inside. "They found him crying like a baby at the altar rail."

The bishop then said to the old priest: "I wanted to tell you that story because I was that young guy and you were that priest. Thank you."

(A story told by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger)

Papal Charisms

When I saw this meme today first on “Twitter” then on Facebook I immediately thought of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.  

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.  For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.  At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Corinthians 13: 1-13

  

Wisdom allows us to see the beautiful face of Christ!

Pope Francis to the Cardinals:

“Dear brother Cardinals, take courage! Half of us are advanced in age. Old age is – as I like to say – the seat of life’s wisdom. The old have acquired the wisdom that comes from having journeyed through life, like the old man Simeon, the old prophetess Anna in the Temple. And that wisdom enabled them to recognize Jesus. Let us pass on this wisdom to the young: like good wine that improves with age, let us give life’s wisdom to the young. I am reminded of a German poet who said of old age: Es is ruhig, das Alter, und fromm: it is a time of tranquillity and prayer. And also a time to pass on this wisdom to the young. You will now return to your respective sees to continue your ministry, enriched by the experience of these days, so full of faith and ecclesial communion. This unique and incomparable experience has enabled us to grasp deeply all the beauty of the Church, which is a glimpse of the radiance of the risen Christ: one day we will gaze upon that beautiful face of the risen Christ!”

 

 

Joy, Laughter, and Hope

Yay!  I’m back in Fresno and I have my internet connection!    No more blogging with my thumbs!   I’m also able to catch up on the blogs I regularly read that I missed the last two days.  Normally, that takes about an hour or so.  But for some reason, it took 3 hours tonight!  What the heck happened yesterday?--must have been something newsworthy.  Lol. 

The immensity of yesterday’s events caused me to do something I rarely do—forget a birthday!  Not mine, but my brother Tom’s.  He would have been 57 on Wednesday.  I feel a little down that I forgot.  I’ll say a rosary for him tonight….for both of us.

Reflecting on the last couple of days that I was “out of town while ‘out of town’” [note: I work out of an office that is 150 miles from home.  For the last two days I’ve been working 180 miles away from my office]:  I have said since Ash Wednesday that I am having an “unplanned” Lent.  I am at the mercy of the Holy Spirit (pun intended) regarding my Lenten sacrifices.  It’s been one thing after another.  Or, I may just be listening extra carefully (scrupulously?) to the Holy Spirit this Lent.  I wanted so much to see all of the pageantry, rituals and liturgies involved in Pope Francis’ election and his first Mass, etc.  But because I was out of town and my laptop was not able to ‘stream’ the Catholic news media I am accustomed to, all I was able to see was what the “secular” media wanted to show—which wasn’t much.  And what they did show, they always followed up with some pundit reminding the world that the Catholic Church is still just a scandal-ridden, out-of-touch behemoth that should go away. 

Forgive me, Lord, but I’d like so much to stand toe-to-toe with those pompous, uninformed “former Catholics” and show them my “son of thunder” imitation!

 

If they would just open their hearts and minds to Christ, they would find there is still a lot of joy, laughter, and hope in being a Catholic.   

Joy 1:  I was able to spend an hour in Adoration of our Lord last night to thank Him for His gift of Pope Francis.  It’s been tough recently finding time to just be in His immediate Presence outside of the Eucharist.

Joy 2:  When I finally got into an area that I could listen to the radio, I tuned in to the first Papal Mass as the boys choir was singing the Responsorial Psalm.  The soloist’s voice was so beautiful, I cried!  It was all I was able to listen to before getting back to the office.  Note to self:  find the Mass on EWTN stream tonight.

Laughter:  This is a picture that is making its rounds on the internet.  Good, clean humor is never out of style.

 

Hope:  Lastly, I just finished reading Fr. Jim Chern’s blog.  He’s on a pilgrimage in Rome that was planned months before Pope (emeritus) Benedict announced his resignation.  What timing, huh?  Not on Father Jim’s part, but on the Holy Spirit’s.  Father Jim was supposed to be in Rome this week.  Not (necessarily) so he could witness the election of Pope Francis, but so that he could experience this.  One of Father Jim’s previous blog entries detailed a crisis in his priesthood early in his vocation when he took a sabbatical away from his duties while he discerned whether or not he made the right choice.

What a loving Savior we have!

I'm all thumbs on this day of "firsts"

It's a day of exciting "firsts" for me. We'll see how this goes! I am writing this blog while sitting in an air-conditioned U-Haul truck outside of my motel room in Ridgecrest,located in the "high desert" of California. Why? Because it's the only place I can get Internet access- I don't know why my laptop won't connect! I just got back from Eucharistic Adoration at Saint Ann church here in thanksgiving for our new Pope, Francis! It is one of the churches I have not visited yet as part of my (now) 4 year pilgrimage to visit every church in the Stockton and Fresno dioceses! The main church was locked up tighter than a drum, but the Eucharistic Chapel is beautiful! Pope Francis! I prayed most of the night last night that we would have a new Pope today and that he would choose one of several names: Gregory, Matthew, Pius, or something else that was either unique or one that hadn't been used in a while! I am not disappointed! In fact, the very selection of Francis seems to me to be Divinely inspired! Think of it! The simple obedience of Francis of Asissi to our Lord's request to "Rebuild My Church", the zeal of Francis Xavier to evangelize to the whole world, and the humility of St. Francis de Sales in serving the poor! How perfect is that choice by the Holy Spirit (using the Holy Father as His instrument)? Sorry, but because I'm using my iPhone to write this post, no graphics tonight. I think it may be the last time I try this, too, because my thumbs are worn out! Lol

Making things new again

As we enter the week that the College of Cardinals will enter the Conclave to elect a new Pope, I am inspired by the words in the readings for Monday.

The book of Isaiah speaks about things being made new – the Lord is going to create new heavens and a new earth. (Isaiah 65:17-21)  We can read this in a literal sense in that the world and the condition of creation is literally going to be thrown away and something completely new and different put in its place.  We can also read it in the sense that the world that we live in right now is going to be made new, or perhaps renewed or rejuvenated. 

In either case, I think the key question is whether or not we really believe it.  Do we really believe that God can make our lives and our world new again?  I ask this question because, if we really take an honest look, there are plenty of things all around us that can make us feel hopeless, cynical, and despondent. 

Our world is facing threats from climate uncertainty, unequal wealth distribution, and the political unrest that comes with overabundance and overuse at one end of the social spectrum and fearful scarcity and lack of access at the other.

Our country is deeply divided on many issues, from same sex marriage to abortion and contraception; from the national deficit to Medicare and Social Security.  Oftentimes, we can’t even find a way to talk to each other about these important issues.

Our own lives each contain dark places, whether it’s personal habits that are bad for our health and well-being, or attitudes that are harmful to our relationships and families.

Yet John’s Gospel reminds us of the importance of having faith, faith that things can indeed be made new.  Jesus rebukes the royal official in this story for asking that his son be healed.  We get the impression that Jesus thinks this man is asking for his son to be healed in order that he might believe.  I think the opposite might be true here, though.  He didn’t demand that his son be healed so that he might have faith.  He approached Jesus because he had faith.  The cure was not the cause of his faith, but the consequence.  (John 4:43-54)

Similarly, we must not wait for the problems and challenges that confront us in today’s world to disappear before we truly believe that things can be made new.  Instead, we are invited to move through our Lenten journey with faith, knowing that there is new life at the end of the tunnel.  Faith is the precondition that allows us to embrace the challenges in our lives and in our world, the truly Lenten struggles that we experience each and every day.  In fact, approaching the world with the hope and the belief that things can indeed be made new just might be a prerequisite to living a Christian life in our world.  This is God’s promise to us and the consequence of believing it makes all the difference in how we view the world and the possibility that things can be made new and that God works through us to do just that.

Stupid questions

I was giving a presentation the other day and finished up by asking if there were any questions.  As happens every time, someone raised their hand and said “This is kind of a stupid question, but…..”  It always reminds me of the old adage “The only stupid question is the one that wasn’t asked.”  But I did find some contenders for “Stupidest Question of All-Time”.    The nominees are:

10-Why is Grape Nuts cereal called that, when it contains neither grapes, nor nuts?

 

 

 

9-If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

8-If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

7-If an orange is orange, why isn't a lime called a green or a lemon called a yellow?

 

6-If a cat always lands on its feet, and buttered bread always lands butter side down, what would happen if you tied buttered bread on top of a cat?

5-What color would a smurf turn if you choked it?

4-If a kid refuses to sleep during nap time, are they guilty of resisting a rest?

3-If laughter is the best medicine, who's the idiot who said they 'died laughing'?

2-If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why's it still #2?

 

 

 

 

 

1-If pro and con are opposites, wouldn't the opposite of progress be congress?  (See #8 above--these categories are related)

 

Remain faithful, and He will be our God

We are not alone.

There are many moments in life when we go through instances of ups and downs.  We are not alone going through tough times.  Today’s reading emphasizes the gravity of the decision to turn ones’ back on God.  It is important to listen to the world around us.  God comes to us in many shapes and forms.  He could be speaking through a close friend that is trying to help through a certain circumstance or He could be the voice of reason in our head all along.  Allow the light of the Lord into your life and understand that He is always there in the good times and more importantly in the bad times.

The road of life proposes multiple challenges.  Our faith is challenged, our views are altered, and our life changes one way or another.  Choose to remain faithful because when faith disappears it can be easy to get wrapped up in the wrong things.  Choose to remember that you are not alone.  God is with you as well as your family and friends.  “Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people.”  There is never something that we can’t handle together.

Old Faithful

"Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.” Jeremiah 7:23-28

There's a lesson here, someplace!

Jesus did not come into the world to do something negative but to fulfill a positive mission from Our Father.  He came to be the living embodiment of what the fulfillment of His Will would be like. He did not come to lay waste to the law and the prophets, but to explain them and have them make sense—“I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)

The laws, as Jesus points out, are all about unconditional love—love of God, love of neighbor.  Any time the law appears to get in the way of this, it is because we have failed in our understanding of the law. We need, then, only look to Jesus who taught the supremacy of love and deep compassion.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, of our lives, of our hopes and of our dreams.  He is the embodiment of love and compassion and He teaches us that if we are to find heaven on Earth, we are to do so by living the example of fulfillment that He has given.

 

I was shown His example of unconditional love quite eloquently a couple of times recently, by children(!).  I don't know why I'm surprised, because Christ Himself said "Believe me, unless you become like little children again, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)  For some reason, children get it--and then they somehow "learn" otherwise.

My granddaughter came to me the other day and said "Oompah, let's watch TV together!  That's what friends do!"  After chuckling out loud, I responded affirmatively and tuned to the station she wanted to watch.  It was not, however, the program she intended seeing.  She told me so saying, "I want the show with the REAL kids playing!"  I told her that was not the show that was scheduled right then, but she was persistent.  In my frustration, I said "Lily, what do you want me to do?  I don't control the station.  I can't make them play what you want when you want!"  To which she replied "But you're OOMPAH!  YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!"  She had so much unconditional trust in me, and I felt pride at first, then inadequacy.  It made me realize the type of love I have for God, our Father in Heaven, but it also reminded me that I often take His love for granted.

The type of love we are to have for one another was also shown to me while I was watching some children at play today.  It was evident that they were children from different backgrounds and circumstances by their appearance and the fact that their parents were spread out along the line we adults were all standing in. (More on that in a couple of minutes.)  They were playing as children do, with a little bit of running, a little bit of climbing on benches, and a lot of screaming with laughter mixed in.  I heard no arguing or disagreements on what to play or how to play it that is sometimes the norm with older children and adults.  And when one of the smaller children (about 2 or 3 years old) fell and hurt herself, EVERY ONE of the other children stopped playing to attend to her needs and help her get over it!  In no time at all, she was laughing and playing with the rest of them as if nothing had happened at all.  What a testament to love of neighbor!

Reflecting on these incidents today made me think of my blog entry yesterday.  I am concerned that I am not observing Lent in a manner pleasing to Jesus.  I am also open to His will in showing me how I can better serve Him through penance and sacrifice.   I am hearing His voice ever so faintly in the hurdles I have faced in the last couple of days.  

First, there was the physical I had to undergo yesterday as a requirement of my work.  Since I sometimes have to drive a commercial truck, every two years I have to be certified by a doctor and the DMV as fit, and not a danger to myself or others I may encounter on the road.  My two years was up this week, and so I went in to the doctor.  It's usually just an eye test, a hearing test, a simple dexterity test and out.  This time, it was a new doctor in the office and he takes this DOT physical very seriously.  So my weight was taken, the usual "samples" taken, and he took my blood pressure.  As I usually do--and always with great accuracy--I proclaimed "I'll save you the trouble, Doc.  My BP is always 108 over 68!"  He replied with, "Mr. Farnsworth, I'd like you to lie down for a little while and we'll take it again in about 15 minutes."  I thought he was joking.  He said it again in a tone that told me I might be in trouble.  I asked what my BP was.  He said it was 139/78 and if it didn't come down, I wouldn't pass the physical and he would seriously consider having me picked up because it wasn't safe for me to be driving!  15 minutes later, it was down to a "safe" level again.  That's never happened to me before, and I was a bit startled (I'll admit I still am).  I didn't feel bad, so how could my blood pressure be so high?  The rest of the physical went without incident, other than the usual lecture about my weight that I have been taking to heart [pun intended] the past month or so.  I was then instructed to go to the DMV today and get my card signed off and return to work as usual for the next two years.  

I worked most of the  day out of town today, but returned early enough to go to the DMV.  When I got there, the line was about 50 deep outside of the entrance!  I almost forgot about the whole thing, but realized this whole mess may be the penance I'm supposed to be doing for Lent!  No one, especially me, likes to wait in line.  What made it more frustrating for me is that other disgruntled citizens were coming out fuming that it was about a 2 hour wait just to get a number that would be called in order to get served!  Again, since I've been prayerfully listening for God's direction this Lent, I decided to bear the inconvenience with an outwardly cheerful demeanor.  As the angry patrons would pass by grumbling to anyone who would listen, I just smiled and kept on watching the children give us adults a lesson in joyful patience.  I actually forgot about the bad news of the physical exam last night and focused on the joy of the children playing.  One young man in front of me must have sensed my serenity in the situation because he started asking me my advice as to whether he should continue to wait in line or try another day to get his first driver license.  At first my inclination was to tell him to go home [that would inch me closer to the front of the line, after all!].  But instead, I felt a tug at my heartstrings as I sensed he was feeling a little scared about the whole thing.  I told him "You've already invested over an hour into the wait.  You should stick it out."  He seemed relieved at that advice and became more talkative and inquisitive about the whole "getting a first license thing".  I helped him as much as I could and when we finally got inside the door, I directed him to the application form and advised him how to fill it out. 

It occurs to me now that in enjoying the love that was on display by the children and my helping another human being in a time of emotional distress, I was actually feeling very close to Jesus through it all and I was not burdened in the least by the long, long wait.

I'm sure there is a lesson here.  I'm just too elated from the experience to be able to explain it in words.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

 

 

 

Be flexible and take comfort

I’ve had a lousy Lent—maybe my worst ever.  I had great plans, but just a few days after Ash Wednesday, it was obvious I wasn’t going to meet those plans.  It seems to me that God is steering me in a different direction than the ones I chose.  I keep trying to keep my Lenten promises, but I also keep failing miserably.  I can’t keep a simple fast.  I had a plan to spend time in a church every day, and for some reason work keeps getting in the way!  Despite all of this, I am still listening through prayer for what God has in store for me this Lent.

Perhaps your plans for Lent have changed too. Perhaps the kind of Lent you wanted to give God is not the Lent He's giving you! If that's true, don't fret!

I found some comfort—and you may, too—in reading Matthew’s gospel (18:21-35).

Like the servant in this passage (and me), perhaps you intended to work long and hard this Lent to pay off a debt you owed to your Master.  But maybe God has other plans, like the master in this gospel, who, "moved with compassion . . . let him go and forgave him."

If God wants you to let go of your plans for Lent, let go!  God is moved with compassion for us in whatever action He is taking in our lives. He forgives our debt of sin through Jesus, who came to show us the Father’s incredible mercy.

So this Lent, I intend to be flexible, relax, and accept what God is giving me—even if it's not what I had planned.

 

A little help for your Lenten Stations of the Cross

I know it's late in coming, but I found two different websites for virtual Stations of the Cross that I thought you might like to try: there's
THIS ONE, FROM THE "BUSTED HALO" ORGANIZATION RUN BY PAULIST PRIESTS,
and
THIS ONE, PUT TOGETHER BY THE DIVINE MERCY CENTRE IN CANADA.

The one from "Busted Halo" is a little more complicated to use, but great nonetheless if you want to split the stations up throughout the day because of time constraints.

I think the imagery of the stations put out by the Divine Mercy Centre is the better of the two, but you almost have to have at least a half-hour or so to complete the stations in one continuous sitting (kneeling).

Of course, neither beats going to a church on Friday afternoon or evening and actually praying the stations as they are meant to be, but that's today's world, isn't it?

I put a link to both websites on the right sidebar of this blog.  Just click on the picture and you can begin the prayers.